The Republican Party has won control of the US Senate.
The Senate is the U.S. Upper House. It has 100 seats: two for each state. The Republicans now have 51 of those seats.
Before the election, the Democrats and the Republicans each had 49 seats. The remaining seats were held by independents who generally voted with Democrats.
Republican control of the Senate
The Senate is part of the U.S. Congress, equivalent to Australia’s Parliament.
Every two years, Congress goes to elections. The elections that fall half-way through a four-year Presidential term are called mid-terms.
Senators serve six-year terms. At each Congressional election, around a third of the seats go up for election.
This means both major parties will have the opportunity to change the makeup of the Senate at the 2026 mid-terms.
